The present invention is a method for data processing and visualization of a multi-dimensional separation. The chromatogram from a gas chromatography, mass spectrometry system has been used as a typical example to demonstrate the data processing and visualization method.
Gas Chromatography hyphenated (combined) with Mass Spectrometry, GC-MS, has become a powerful technique for separation/identification of unknown components over many years. In this hyphenation, the GC performs separation and MS performs in separated component identification. For complex mixture such as a petroleum stream, this technique, similar to traditional GC, still suffers a lot of co-elution of components in the GC separation and many mixed mass spectra (caused by co-elution) that create difficulty for MS interpretation.
If one applies the two (multiple) dimensional separation concept to GC-MS to create a data processing/visualization method, GC-MS not only can be used as a separation/identification tool, but also a two (multiple) dimensional separation device, GC×MS. This new data processing/visualization method greatly improves the separation of complex mixture by this Gas Chromatography hyphenated with Mass Spectrometry technique. The co-elution problem in the traditional GC separation when analyze a complex mixture can be reduced in a great extent.
The two (multiple) dimensional separation has been introduced nearly ten years. The separation technology development to carry out this two (multiple) dimensional separation concept is almost all focus on the chromatographic type development. However, multi-dimensional chromatographic separation can be extended to other types of separation techniques. Other separations, such as mass separation by mass spectrometry (MS), wavelength/internal atomic/molecular motion separation by ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), and infrared (IR) spectrometer and thermal separation by thermogravimeric analysis (TGA) techniques, all use different mechanisms of separation. When hyphenated with any of the techniques, a two (multiple) dimensional separation can be accomplished.